On November 16th, 2009 4MyCanada and NHOP (see comments) held an appreciation reception for MP’s on Parliament Hill.
According to Richard Long of NHOP – National House of Prayer Ottawa:
Faytene Kryskow and her team did a wonderful job of sharing their hearts and creating an event of impact. The highlight of the night was their special “Hero” award to M.P. Joy Smith who championed Bill 268 against human trafficking. Many other Parliamentarians dropped by to have some great food (thanks to Ruth Sowerby and her team) and to meet young adults from all across the nation.
Keep praying for the My Canada team as they meet 67 M.P.s and Senators over 5 days this week.
According to 4MyCanada (which does not have charitable status), the following expenses were incurred.
Costs for the Josiah Team (Please let us know if you would like to designate to one of these areas by e-mailing us at admin@4mycanada.ca after you sow. Thank you and God bless you.):
◦ Parliamentary Reception: $2000.00
◦ Gifts for MPs (given at each meeting): $1200.00 est.
◦ Team Member Costs: $525 each.
The Josiah Team is listed as 20 unnamed young people who applied for this trip from across Canada and who according to the website, paid their own expenses. (history) Donations were solicited from readers to cover the costs of the event which also included meetings with MP’s. These appreciation nights are apparently in their 8th year.
Have you been wanting to come to Parliament on one of our teams? If so, we have good news for you. Our 8th Josiah team is heading to Parliament this Nov. 15th-21st (pending on a possible election)! This team of 20 young people, from across Canada, will be meeting with over 40 Parliamentarians to honour them and the share their hearts with them on the issues that they are passionate about. We will also hold our annual reception to honour our government during this week. These weeks are always amazing, and often historic. There is nothing like being a part of a Josiah team, really. It will change you, and this nation, at the same time.
There isn’t much on the 4MyCanada website about this event, the following was entered into the twitter account.
Debriefing after an amazing week with about 72 Parliamentarians!! Report coming. Updates:http://www.4mycanada.ca/SignUpForE-mails.html
2:13 PM Nov 20th from web Our team is in a very important meeting with Sen. Anne Cools RIGHT NOW….this would be a good time to pray, thanks a ton.
The team is debriefing on the day! So good. Talking about the Minister Moore (James) meeting right now
.
3:40 PM Nov 19th from web
Just counted. We have 22 meetings today (Thursday): Cabinet Ministers, Liberal front benchers and new Senators….here we go!
5:04 AM Nov 19th from web
We are hanging with the SoCon crew @ the Manning Centre weekend to block euthanasia. Join the force.
2:51 PM Nov 13th from txt Working our fingers to the bone putting together gifts for all the MPs we will meet with next week. 66 scheduled meetings! Can’t wait.
7:32 PM Nov 12th from web
The report from the event and the subsequent meetings with MP’s does not appear to be available as yet on the 4MyCanada blog or in the magazine. An email bulletin from 4MyCanada on November regarding the reception, the Josiah Team and meetings with MP’s say 19 team members met with 32 MP’s, with 34 meetings left to go. The email also states costs of the reception, gifts and food were running at about 4 thousand dollars and reader donations were requested:
In going through the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons, I read that elected officials are free to accept gifts of appreciation from constituents within a certain limit:
Private interest.
13.1 For the purpose of sections 12 and 13, “private interest” means those interests that can be furthered in subsection 3(2), but does not include the matters listed in subsection 3(3)
Prohibition: gifts and other benefits.
14. (1) Neither a Member nor any member of a Member’s family shall accept, directly or indirectly, any gift or other benefit, except compensation authorized by law, that might reasonably be seen to have been given to influence the Member in the exercise of a duty or function of his or her office.
(1.1) For greater certainty, subsection (1) applies to gifts or other benefits:
(a) related to attendance at a charitable or political event; and
(b) received from an all-party caucus established in relation to a particular subject or interest.
Exception.
(2) Despite subsection (1), a Member or a member of a Member’s family may accept gifts or other benefits received as a normal expression of courtesy or protocol, or within the customary standards of hospitality that normally accompany the Member’s position.
Exception.
Statement: gift or other benefit.
(3) If gifts or other benefits that are related to the Member’s position are accepted under this section and have a value of $500 or more, or if the total value of all such gifts or benefits received from one source in a 12-month period is $500 or more, the Member shall, within 60 days after receiving the gifts or other benefits, or after that total value is exceeded, file with the Commissioner a statement disclosing the nature of the gifts or other benefits, their source and the circumstances under which they were given.
Exception.
(4) Any disclosure made pursuant to the requirements of section 15 does not need to be disclosed as a gift or other benefit under subsection (3).
If I am understanding the ethics code correctly, gifts over $500.00 have to be disclosed by an elected official, including gifts of protocol and appreciation.
It would be interesting to know which MP’s attend 4 My Canada events.
The only M.P. publicly named as attending the joint 4 My Canada NHOP reception is Joy Smith Kildonan-St. Paul.
Several MP’s are mentioned as meeting with the Josiah Team (69 Members of Parliament, Cabinet Ministers, the Prime Minister’s Office, and Senators). Did they receive gifts of appreciation? Reading the report, it’s not clear how many elected officials met with the team, how many assistants, and who was present at the PMO’s meeting.
The National House of Prayer contributes to TheCry which is an event held by 4MyCanada. According to the NHOP 2008 tax return NHOP donated $21,595. There are no listings in NHOP tax returns for financial contributions to previous 4MyCanada Josiah Team receptions and meetings or TheCry affiliate.
I’ve written 4MyCanada and asked the following:
Hi:
On November 16th, 2009 4 My Canada and NHOP held a banquet on Parliament Hill.
The costs listed at 4 My Canada were as follows:
Parliamentary Reception: $2000.00
Gifts for MPs (given at each meeting): $1200.00 est.
Team Member Costs: $525 each
Does 4 My Canada or co-sponsor NHOP (corrected – see comments) have a breakdown of the reception costs available? (Food, service etc.)? Would 4 My Canada be willing to provide the cost breakdown?
It is not clear from the website which MP’s attended the reception.
Would 4 My Canada be willing to disclose that information?It is not clear what gifts were given to MP’s attending the reception, or subsequent gifts given to MP’s (at each meeting). Would 4 My Canada be willing to disclose that information?
4 My Canada states (19?) 20 team members from across Canada paid $525.00 to attend the November 16th event and subsequent meetings. Would 4 My Canada be willing to disclose the average age and home locations of team members?
Were all team members required to pay $525.00 to attend the November 16th event and subsequent meetings, regardless of what area of Canada they hail from?There are conflicting numbers regarding the number of elected officials which attended the November 16th, 2009 event, as well as the number of subsequent meetings.
Would 4 My Canada be willing to disclose accurate numbers?4 My Canada states the purpose of the November 16th 2009 meeting was to honour elected officials and share issues 4 My Canada team members are passionate about. What organizations do team members belong to? (charitable and non-charitable)? Would 4 My Canada be willing to disclose other affiliations of team members?
Thank you for your time, I look forward to your response.
Shouldn’t the 4MyCanada as well as the NHoP be registered as lobbyists?
Oh, and recruiting Senator Anne Cools to whatever rightwing fundamentalist religious cause discussed at that important meeting is a no-brainer. But I’m sure prayers helped.
I’ll wait to see how 4MyCanada responds, but I don’t know the answer. You’ll see all kinds of ties to familar groups and MP’s. and once the group responds I’d like to ask the ethics department for parliament. I think citizens should have access to MP’s, but I don’t know the rules for for non-profits paying for that access.
Bene,
FYI – Our administrator did respond to you, several hours prior to this posting so your 11:10pm comment is misleading in this regard.
Your e-filters may be amped up a bit to high.
Your comment regarding “non-profits paying for access to meet with MPs” is also misleading and incorrect if you are suggesting something regarding the meetings you are noting in your discourse here.
The young adult Canadians met with MPs as citizens. None of them are paid lobbyists. 4MYC organizes these field trips to Parliament periodically as a way to encourage positive dialogue between our elected officials and Canadian citizens. MPs received no payment to participate in meetings. Gifts of appreciation were presented as an act of honour, not payment for the meetings. Gift giving: flowers, candy, etc. is a normal Canadian practice when anyone is showing appreciation for another person for their efforts – which is exactly what the young people were doing.
Thanks for your concern and interest.
We will not be participating in your blog from this point onward as your intention and your identity is suspect (we have noted that you have not been transparent in disclosing your identity on a variety of frontiers).
Take Care.
You guys crack me up. Even your first statement is a total inaccuracy! NHOP was not a co-sponsor of this event. Like many other organizations who are friendly and supportive of My Canada, we accepted an invitation to attend a wonderful event and encouraged members of our team to take in the evening.
Time does not permit to tackle the other numerous fallacies.
Perhaps you want to check and verify your facts before you publish, otherwise you will not be taken seriously.
Got it, thanks.
My comment is misleading, you are correct, my mistake was not intentional and I apologize.
4 My Canada disclaimer:
“MY Canada is a registered non-profit society but due to the political nature of our work we are not a registered charity. Most of what we do and say we could not if we were a charity.
Under Revenue Canada regulations charities cannot have overt public opinion on topics that are viewed as ‘political’ (marriage and life would both fall under this category at this point). Charities cannot work to affect legislation & cannot encourage it’s members to affect legislation in Canada. So, we had a choice to make! We decided the future of Canada was more important than an ability to give chartiable receipts.”
Charitable receipts cannot be given by political organizations which have not been granted charitable status.
Hi Richard:
Either NHOP helped facilitate or NHOP didn’t.
I will correct my error, and point out deflecting doesn’t answer valid questions.
My apology for overestimating your role.